Wednesday, August 25, 2010

90 Day Budget Boot Camp - Challenge #8 Update

Challenge #8

Make an extra meal and freeze it to use when you don't feel like cooking or are short on time. Do you think this added extra time or saved you time in your cooking? Benefits? Pros/Cons? Plus your experience and if you were successful or not. We'll also be discussing splitting bulk purchases into family-size portions for freezing.

When I delivered Brayden my family came to help for the first 2 weeks & while they were here helping they were preparing meals that could freeze & this was a tremendous help when they were gone & I had no time to cook!! I always said that I was going to start doing that again so thanks to this challenge I am finally doing it. This is not only going to help make sure that Brayden, Lance & I all get a home cooked meal but it is also going to help cut back on buying Brayden "filler" meals as I like to call them!

I consider the pre-made meals "filler" meals/food & although there is nothing wrong with them I just prefer that we eat home cooked meals even if that means defrosting one. I feel so much better knowing what exactly is in what my family is eating; not to mention that fact that I have a picky eater for a husband so if he doesn't like what I am cooking that night I can simply & easily prepare something else for him to eat.

We had friends over for dinner last Friday night & I made spaghetti...........a ton of it!! I always worry that I am not going to have enough to feed everyone so I always over do it a tad but I over did it alot this time but it was intentional. I have frozen the meat sauce & am going to use it in the future to make lasagna which I will also make enough of to freeze!! I also made Brayden blueberry pancakes this week for breakfast & made extra so that I could throw them in the freezer as well; just 45 seconds in the microwave & voila he gets a warm homemade breakfast! I am loving the potential that this challenge has for my upcoming meal plans & I am also loving how by only doing this for a week & I saved time & reduced the needed items on my grocery list which in the grand scheme pf things is saving money & that is what this is all about right??

I am still tracking prices but so far no great decreases BUT my coupon collection is growing so hopefully the "huge" savings I have seen others be able to accomplish will soon be something I can brag about as well!!

Next Challenge...........

Challenge #9

Make something from scratch - bread, pita pockets, hot pockets? Laundry detergent? Cleaning products? Anything you often purchase. In the end, how much did the homemade version cost versus the price you typically pay? Was it worth it? Did it save you money? Where did you struggle with this challenge? What things do you think your family could make at home to save you money?